Voices

Lending an ear to mom

By Zhang Ling (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-05-12 08:02

As you are all no doubt well aware, this year, Mother's Day fell on Sunday, May 9.

So what did you buy to show your appreciation to your mom this year - a bunch of flowers, beauty products, a meal?

As usual with Mother's Day fast approaching, the price of popular flowers, such as carnations and lilies soared - even higher this year than the same period last year.

At the weekend, many of the shopping malls were crowded with shoppers all eager to find a gift for their mothers. By exploiting the number of shoppers, most stores were able to give a discount to attract more consumers. Apparently, the tactic worked.

Some people looked for new and economical ways to demonstrate their love for their moms this year, and a variety of activities that honored moms were initiated on the Internet.

Some netizens filmed a short message that they sent to their moms, uploading it to share with others, which some of them claimed was to help others overcome their hesitancy in telling others how much they love them while they are still alive.

And that's a good point. It doesn't matter what present you bought or what you said to your mother. We can still ask ourselves: How long has it been since I had a proper conversation with my mom? Do I really know what she wants?

I'm sure that hardly any of us can give the right answers to these questions.

We are busy with work and our daily lives, many of us are already feeling overwhelmed by married life and children. Chances are that we have neglected to engage in regular communication with our parents, because the sad fact is that most of us take them for granted.

Moreover, due to different ages and different educational backgrounds, communication becomes more difficult as the generation gap between parents and children manifests itself.

Under such circumstances, I am sure that lending an ear to mom is the gift she'll treasure the most.

But it has to be done right. That means having the patience to listen, whatever the topic, whether it's family gossip, or reminiscences, whatever topic she chooses.

And when she has finished, share some of the recent happenings in your life with her. If you feel really brave, you can even solicit her advice.

The last thing I would like to say is that the demonstration of love for our parents should not be confined to just one day, we should show our love frequently and regularly.

Now gather your courage and clutch your phone and have a conversation with mom!